From: Nancy Werlin <nwerlin>
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 10:24:47 -0500

Ruth Gordon writes re SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY: >>Yes, a Bentley photo or two--perhaps on the binder's paste down or on a free end leaf would have added a great deal of "actuality" to the illustrations. <<

Dear Big Grandma: you just didn't look carefully enough! Turn to the last page of the book, and there you'll see a photograph of W A Bentley with his camera, a quote from him that brings tears to the eye, and three black and white photos from his book SNOW CRYSTALS. Beautiful.

Folks may be interested to learn, Bentley's SNOW CRYSTALS appears to be suddenly selling like hotcakes at amazon.com.

I'm with Deborah Hopkinson on this one... this book does inspire awe in me: awe for nature, awe for humanity's place in nature, awe at Bentley's slow, sure determination and the inspiration of his quiet life. It's a book in which the illustrations, design, and text are all perfectly balanced and intertwined; each enriching the others. Inspired editorial direction from Ann Ryder, I'd say. When I spoke to a member of the Caldecott committee just after the announcements, and expressed my (tearful) joy in this book's selection, but also my surprise because, as Judy O'Malley said, we are many of us accustomed to thinking it an award for the art only, the committee member corrected me gently: "Look at the charge to the committee. We were looking at the whole book."

Is this book non-fiction? Yes, and it is also the best kind of story, whether fictional or not: the kind with emotional truth.

I predict that this will be one of the beloved Caldecotts; one of those that is used and bought over the years not only by libraries and schools, but by parents for their children.

-Nancy Werlin, who loves this book passionately. Can you tell? nwerlin at world.std.com
Received on Fri 05 Feb 1999 09:24:47 AM CST